Slowly, Tube Lines Are Getting Back to Normal

Slowly, Tube Lines Are Getting Back to Normal

Article excerpt

Byline: ROSS LYDALL;DICK MURRAY

TUBE bosses today moved a step nearer restoring services after the bombed Edgware Road train was removed. A crane was brought in to lift the destroyed Circle line train overnight. Police forensic teams will check for further evidence before returning the site to London Underground.

The Aldgate site was handed back to LU at the weekend. The station is set to reopen by Monday, alongside the restoration of full services on the Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines.

Tim O'Toole, the Tube's managing director, said he hoped to have the Circle line - which has been suspended since the 7 July attacks - restored within a fortnight.

"It would be extremely disappointing if, two weeks from now, we are not running a full Circle line service. It could perhaps be sooner than that," he said.

He added that the sites would undergo comprehensive cleaning before trains began running.

The Piccadilly line, where at least 25 people died in a deep-level tunnel between King's Cross and Russell Square, will take "several weeks" to reopen fully.

The damage is said to be extensive, though the tunnel wall is not thought to have been breached.

The line is suspended between Hyde Park Corner and Arnos Grove, with shuttle services operating at its northern and western extremes.

Metropolitan, Northern and Victoria line services are now stopping at King's Cross, with passengers able to switch lines.

All six carriages of the wrecked Piccadilly line train are still underg round , although four have been uncoupled and pulled back towards King's Cross.

This is to allow police easier access to the two carriages which remain, including the one in which the bomb exploded.

New track and points have already been moved to each bomb site. This will allow repairs to be done immediately the police investigations are concluded.

Howard Collins, the LU director in charge of restoring train services, said: "We have a good picture at most locations of what damage has taken place and the repairs that will be required."

Contractors working for private maintenance firms Metronet, responsible for the Circle line, and Tube Lines, responsible for the Piccadilly line, have been praised by LU for offering "first-rate" support. …